Samuel Augustus Mitchell, A New Map of Texas, Oregon and California with the Regions Adjoining…, 1846

One of the first commercially prepared maps to show the new State of Texas, Mitchell’s map is a well-designed and attractive production, featuring all of the political detail available about Texas. This famous map was enormously popular at the time of its publication, tapping into the great expansionist aspirations of mid-nineteenth-century Americans. Mitchell included the enormous extent of land claimed by Texas with a northwestern boundary at the 42nd parallel on the Upper Rio Grande. Other imminent conquests of the Mexican-American War are shown as part of the U.S. territory, including the whole of Upper California. And the entire Oregon Country north to Russian America at parallel 54°40′ (parts of which were also claimed by the British) is included. With these claims, U.S. territory completely surrounded what was still designated as Indian Territory. The map serves as a graphic representation of this dynamic period of U.S. expansion into the great western territories.

Manifest Destiny and the promise that Western Territories held for settlers proved to be a windfall for the commercial map-making industry, and Mitchell’s accurate and up-to-date publications were at the forefront of the trend. Mitchell designed this fold-out map especially for travelers headed west. The addition of Texas to the union and the excitement of the Mexican-American War expanded the appeal of Mitchell’s map. The “Explanation,” at lower left, includes key information, and notes on the emigrant routes to California and Oregon, followed by distances for the latter. To create his map, Mitchell used “the most recent published information extant,” notably Arrowsmith’s 1841 map of Texas, Emory’s 1844 “Map of Texas,” Nicollet’s “Map of the Country Between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers,” Wilkes’s “Map of Oregon,” Fremont’s maps of his explorations in Oregon and California, and even the landmark work of Lewis and Clark. As Wheat notes,

“In the Upper California portion, Fremont is carefully followed, while further north Wilkes is followed. The boundary (to be) with Mexico is imperfectly shown but Texas appears with the magnified boundaries, including Santa Fe, of the 1844 Emory. The various claims to Oregon appear. The Emigrant Route to Oregon via the South Pass, and the Trader’s Route to Santa Fe, are historically traced, and all of the counties of Texas are on the map.”

Refs.: Day and Dunlap, 387; Graff, 2841; Howes, M685; Martin and Martin, Maps of Texas and the Southwest, p. 135, pl. 36, color plate VI, p. 57; Phillips, Maps, p. 844; Sabin, 49713; Streeter sale, vol. 4, 2511; Taliaferro, ed., Cartographic Sources in the Rosenberg Library, 280; Wagner-Camp, 122b; Wheat, Transmississippi West, vol. III, map 520, p. 35, Gold Region, map 29. Interestingly, this variant accompaniment is not listed in any of the standard references.